Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA or LoK.
CHAPTER 1: PROLOGUE
A vision of molten devastation dissolved into a blinding light, then the piercing cry of a newborn could be heard through the white haze. The two Avatars were soon standing in a stone chamber, lit only by sunlight streaming through a single window at the top of the room. Aang recognized it as the nursery of the Southern Air Temple.
Three figures huddled around a cradle, cast in shadow. One of them held up the Air Nomad child to the light.
"Who's— wait." It occurred to Aang that Roku had been showing him the fiery demise of his past self just before the wail of the newborn rang out into the nursery. "That's me, isn't it?" Aang asked, taking in the scene before him.
Rather than confirm his suspicions, Roku offered the boy a final piece of wisdom. "Make sense of our past, Aang, and you will bring peace and restore balance in the world." Aang turned just in time to see Roku vanish, leaving behind a faint blue glow.
Aang's eyes widened in confusion. He called out to Roku and found himself once again momentarily blinded as his surroundings changed again. This time, however, he had the feeling that something was wrong. Instead of returning to his body, he found himself back in the Spirit World, on the plateau from which Roku had picked him up for their solstice spirit journey.
Aang could see nothing through the clouds surrounding him on the stone platform. He called out to Roku once again but was met only with the taunt of his own voice echoing back to him. Overhead, he could hear the call of a dragon bird as it slithered across the sky. He was utterly alone.
It was only after attempting in vain to clear the fog surrounding his patch of land that he remembered that his bending did not work in the Spirit World. With a nervous giggle, he moved to sit in the center of the plateau and folded his legs into a lotus position.
Concentrate on your breathing. Will yourself back to your body.
And he did. Or, he tried. But after what felt like hours of meditating, Aang's legs began to feel numb and the panic started to set in. The eclipse was only a few short weeks away, and he couldn't afford to waste time. There was no telling how long he had already been trapped in this world, given how differently time moved here.
He thought of Katara and her inevitable worrying. If he didn't make it out fast enough, Aang could predict with certainty that she would convince the others to come in after him. His stomach churned uncomfortably at the idea.
No. His friends could not put themselves in danger because of him.
Once again, with all of the focus he could muster, Aang called out to Roku. This time, however, his call was answered. The wizened Avatar appeared before him, sitting across from him in the same lotus position.
"Roku!" He sighed with relief, rapidly forming more sentences before his teacher could speak. "Thank you for coming back. I need your help. For some reason, I can't get back to my body."
His anxiety overpowered his relief at the sight of his past self, and the questions poured out. "Is the solstice over? Am I trapped here? How can—"
Roku cut him off with a slight wave of his hand and a rueful smile. "The Spirit World is a place of many mysteries. It is a living entity, shaped collectively from the spirits that inhabit it. This coalition of spirits thinks and feels in ways that you and I will never understand. Its motives are, at times, unclear."
Aang stared at Roku with no small amount of confusion etched into his features.
"I do not know why you are unable to return to your body," added Roku, with a note of guilt in his tone.
The airbender visibly deflated. This was not the answer he was looking for.
"The Avatar is indeed the bridge between the Mortal World and the Spirit World," Roku continued after a thoughtful pause, "but some Avatars have a deeper connection to this realm than others. There is perhaps no Avatar with a greater connection to the Spirit World than Avatar Wan, the original Avatar."
At this, Aang regarded Roku with renewed optimism. He knew that he had access to all of his previous lives, but it had never occurred to him to look as far back as the beginning. Surely Avatar Wan can help me. He couldn't think about the alternative.
Aang bowed, thanking Avatar Roku for his wisdom before returning to his lotus position with a steadying breath and looking deeper into himself than ever before. When he felt a familiar tug that told him he had found who he was looking for, he opened his eyes to meet a set of kind brown ones.
Avatar Wan was closer to Aang in age than he had expected. The young man had shaggy black hair and a small goatee framing his pointed face. His clothing was a simple brown that did not indicate a nationality. He wore a mischievous grin as he watched the young airbender sitting cross-legged in front of him, gawking in amazement.
"Hello, Avatar Aang. My name is Wan. It is no accident that you find yourself requiring my assistance," he said, the smile never leaving his face. "You must have a lot of questions, but for now, I think it best that we cut to the chase. I have some essential knowledge to impart to you that will not only help you leave the Spirit World but will also be vital to fulfilling your destiny of defeating the Fire Lord."
Feeling slightly overwhelmed at the loaded remark, Aang nodded dumbly.
Wan's grin stretched wider as he continued, "I'm going to teach you how to energybend, just as the last great lion turtle taught me. I did not learn to energybend in my mortal life, but I have spent the last 10,000 years perfecting the art in the Spirit World."
At this, Aang raised his hand. Smirking, Wan waved his permission. "Doesn't bending not work in the Spirit World?" the boy asked gently, eyes scanning the area for any eavesdropping spirits.
"It is the purest form of bending that predates the bending of the four elements, so the so-called 'rules' don't apply."
As he spoke, Wan leaned toward Aang, reaching to touch the arrow tattoo on his forehead. "To teach you to use this ability, I will use it on you." He didn't wait for permission. Just as Aang recoiled against Wan's touch, a green light erupted around the two Avatars.
For a moment, Aang's senses were overtaken by the otherworldly emerald light. Then, his surroundings shifted, and there were strange images tinged with that same light flashing through his mind simultaneously—10,000 years of knowledge seeping into his memory. To his astonishment, he found himself retaining all that Wan shared. It felt as if his brain was being tattooed with the words from a textbook in Wan Shi Tong's library.
Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over, and it was as though all of the energybending knowledge Aang needed had simply appeared in his head. He knew that he would do precisely as Wan had done to him if he were to pass this knowledge to someone else. He knew how to defeat the Fire Lord without killing him—something he had privately worried about for months.
Most importantly for the moment, he knew how to escape the Spirit World. He didn't know how, but he just...knew.
Wan offered one more crooked smile. "Good luck, Aang."
The airbender sank into a bow, thanking him earnestly. The first Avatar vanished, and he was alone once more.
With a slow intake of breath, Aang could feel the energy of this world crackling around him. It surged and rippled like a heat wave. He began to channel the flow of it, concentrating on the center of the plateau upon which he stood. Using wide stirring motions with his arms, he imagined pulling all of the surrounding spirit energy into the earth beneath him.
The platform began to glow, and as it got brighter, Aang could feel the energy pulsing through him as he manipulated its pull and quickened his movements in time with its flow. His entire being was abuzz, and in a momentary distraction, he was reminded of what it felt like to get hit by lightning.
The power hit its peak, and there was a brief moment of eerie silence before the entire platform exploded, sending a blinding light of spirit energy into the sky as had occurred when Aang emerged from the iceberg.
The boy felt the impact of the blast fling him off the edge of the plateau like a rag doll, and though he could scarcely hear his thoughts over the ringing of his ears, he knew he had succeeded in his goal. Then, everything went black.
AN: This is my first fanfic ever (bear with me!). I would really appreciate any feedback.